Rhodes University Zimbabwe, Associate Professor Kirk Helliker established a Unit of Zimbabwean Studies at the beginning of 2015, based in the Department of Sociology.
The main emphasis for the Unit is scholarly research and publications (include post-graduate work) about colonial and post-colonial Zimbabwe, but with a more specific focus on the contemporary political economy of Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwean studies have a rich, varied and deep history and have made a significant contribution to broader intellectual debates across the African continent. Since the nation-wide land occupation movement and the subsequent fast track land reform programme (formulated and implemented by the Zimbabwean state from the year 2000), significant scholarly work has arisen around understanding and explaining the turbulent events which are taking place in present-day Zimbabwe. This scholarly work has led to very vibrant and illuminating debates amongst radical (and liberal) scholars, most notably exemplified in the works of leading Zimbabwean scholars, (the late) Sam Moyo and Brian Raftopoulos. Professor Helliker have been directly involved in this vigorous scholarly debate.
The debates within Zimbabwean studies, though about the character specifically of the current political economy of Zimbabwe, raise and discuss broader theoretical questions pertinent to sociology and cognate disciplines about for instance the state, nationalism, citizenship, identity and political transformation, and such themes continue to resonate throughout Zimbabwean studies. The debate at times has been extremely polarised, with one group of scholars arguing that fast track land reform furthers the national democratic revolution in the country, and the other group claiming that it has – first and foremost – entailed undemocratic and authoritarian restructuring. Additionally, though, the debates are not simply about the present, as they engage with differing interpretations of Zimbabwean history, including during the colonial period. At the same time, the scholarly controversies about the Zimbabwean political economy have resulted in a range of empirically-based localised studies and ethnographies on diverse themes, most notably through the work of post-graduate students based in Zimbabwe and elsewhere.
This is not to suggest that all current work within Zimbabwean studies is in some way connected to the ongoing controversies, as excellent work continues to be produced by Zimbabwean scholars in some way untouched by the debates swirling around them.
The Unit locates itself primarily within the contemporary debates and controversies about land and democracy, but the thematic range of the Unit is very broad and inclusive. Additionally, the Unit seeks not only to produce solid empirically-based work on post-colonial (and colonial) Zimbabwe but to also offer cutting-edge theoretical work on a diverse range of historical and sociological themes which continue to emerge in and around Zimbabwean studies.
The Unit has the strong possibility of positioning Rhodes University as the premier university internationally (outside Zimbabwe) engaging in Zimbabwean research and studies within the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Professor Helliker’s recent scholarly publications, as well as a list of graduated and current PhD and Master students, are available on the department’s website under Professor Helliker’s staff profile.
Under the Unit, Professor Helliker seeks to pursue the following:
- Producing highly quality scholarly publications on an ongoing basis, including an edited book comprising chapters written by PhD students
- Developing a diverse PhD and Masters student profile
- Establishing and reinforcing linkages with scholarly centres in Zimbabwe, including universities and private research entities
- Offering courses or components of courses on Zimbabwean studies at Honours level at the university where possible and appropriate.
- Initiating a ‘Rethinking Zimbabwe’ Seminar Series, including presentations by PhD and MA students within the Unit
- Arranging for periodic visits of leading Zimbabwean scholars to Rhodes for purposes of presenting public talks on specific Zimbabwean issues
- Organising conferences and workshops on Zimbabwe at Rhodes
- Producing a quarterly newsletter on contemporary Zimbabwean issues, for a South African audience.
The Unit has a Memorandum of Understanding with Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University in Bindura, Mashonaland Central Province.
Professor Helliker can be contacted at [email protected] for enquiries about the Unit and for possibilities of engaging with it as either as an established scholar or as a PhD or Masters student.